The US is to deploy tanks to Estonia

The United States will send M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this week to reassure its allies that the US is still committed to their defence.

The tanks will be deployed after the joint US-Polish exercises in northern Poland conclude, the Wall Street Journal reported. The tanks will remain in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania until a new NATO deterrent force is operational in the spring.

In early January, the 3rd Brigade of the US Army – known as the Iron Brigade – arrived in Europe with 3,500 soldiers, 144 Bradley fighting vehicles, 87 tanks and 18 Paladin artillery systems, the newspaper said. The brigade will be headquartered in Poland for the next nine months, after which it will be replaced by another unit.

The prime minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, said after her first meeting with the new US president, Donald Trump, that the latter was “100 per cent behind” NATO, even though Trump had previously questioned his backing and called NATO “obsolete”.

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Cover: M1A2 Abrams tank (sketch courtesy of www.inetres.com). Please consider making a donation for the continuous improvement of our publication.

Sten Hankewitz is a lifelong journalist and Deputy Editor of Estonian World. Having lived in Estonia, Spain and the UK, he now resides in the United States. He loves to write and besides contributing to Estonian World and some occasional blogging, he writes for other media outlets in Estonia, Israel and elsewhere. He has strong convictions and he shows them unashamedly. You can follow him on Twitter, friend him on Facebook or check out his personal blog. You can write to Sten at sten@estonianworld.com.